


Side Quests

by owlaholic68



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Cats, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Magic, Panic Attacks, Pre-Canon, Short & Sweet, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23428009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlaholic68/pseuds/owlaholic68
Summary: Having a Mad Mage for a lover has its benefits and drawbacks.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 5





	1. Parasol

James accepts the courier’s mail with a smile and a nod. This courier knows him and doesn’t expect a verbal response. Doesn’t take offense to James immediately ducking back inside his bookstore.

He received heaps of mail today. Many letters from other bookstore owners in his distribution network, some sending money that his sales earned. There are a few fan letters. He sets those aside to answer later.

Along with the letters are packages. A few small ones with specialty inks, cloth, and leather for bookbinding.

One package is much larger. Longer, too, the length of his arm. Wrapped in fine paper with a shimmering ribbon. The bow unravels at James’ touch.

A card falls out. Thick paper, nice stationery – quality ink, too. James notes this absently as he opens it. The handwriting is vaguely familiar.

“Darling, I hope this finds you well.” James blushes and quickly takes the bundle to his back room lest anybody look in his shop window and see him. He doesn’t need to look at the signature to know who this is; only one person would start with such an endearment. “I hope that giving such a gift is not too forward of me, but I was concerned last week when you got that terrible sunburn.”

James touches his cheek absently. Being a Drow had its disadvantages, one of which was that spending more than a few minutes in direct sunlight could burn his skin.

“Please use my gift so that you do not injure yourself again,” James continues to read. “My most sincere apologies if this is unwanted or overly bold. I look forward to your return message. Please visit soon; my heart aches for you. Your eternal dearest, Jacques.”

Now doubly curious, he opens the rest of the wrapping to reveal a black lace parasol. He frowns and peers through the delicate lace. It’s not very thick. He’s not sure how much it would really help protect from sunlight.

It’s blindingly sunny today: no better time to try it.

James paces a few laps around his store before gathering the courage to go outside. He should try to go out at least a few times each week, lest he develop severe agoraphobia…

He locks up his shop, his new parasol tucked carefully under his arm. He makes sure nobody else is on his quiet street before opening it.

Such a thin lace should only give a bit of shade, but this parasol above his head plunges James into smooth darkness. He blinks once, twice, his pale green eyes adjusting. He’s blanketed in a curtain of nearly opaque shadow cascading down from the peak of the umbrella, fading away at the edges.

Must be enchanted. James smiles to himself and goes out to run some errands, already composing his return letter to his lover.


	2. Find Familiar

There is a strange cat meowing at his bookstore door.

James ignores it at first. Maybe it will just go away if he ignores it. He doesn’t have time to take care of some random cat. It’s probably a stray.

An hour later, it’s still there.

Perhaps he should contact someone to see if anyone is missing a cat. He decides against it – who would he even talk to about this?

Finally he relents and opens the shop door to let the cat in.

“But only because it’s supposed to start raining in a bit.” He nearly unbalances from the unexpected sensation of the cat rubbing his ankles. “You need to leave after that.”

The cat meows. It has sleek orange fur and bright blue eyes. A pudgy short cat with a very round face, chubby cheeks. It hops on the counter and purrs. Stretches its fat paws across James’ latest manuscript, smearing ink and ruining a page.

“Hey!” James picks up the cat and deposits it back on the floor. He contemplates his messed-up page and decides it was probably for the best; that page was awful. He’d been wallowing in writer’s block for the last two days. Perhaps it would be easier just to cut this page and start fresh. “Fine, I won’t be mad about this, but don’t do that again!”

He fetches the cat some food and lets it nap on his lap while he works. Lets it curl against his hip while he trances during the evening. Its purrs soften the sharp edges of his anxiety.

“No, sweetie, don’t climb up there!” James tries in vain to get the cat off his bookshelves.

“No, sweetie, you can’t come shopping with me!” He tries to not let the cat out with him, but it always slips out the door after him anyways.

“No, sweetie, you can’t come with me,” James hisses. This stupid cat followed him out during a storm. He’s hunched over on the bridge out of town trying to shoo the cat away. But he’s supposed to meet Jacques at the tower in a few minutes and he doesn’t want to be late…

“I’m sorry, it just followed me,” he apologizes once he goes inside the warm tower to meet his lover. “I hope you like cats.”

Jacques opens his arms and the cat hops up, curling against his chest. “Of course, of course – he’s mine.”

“He’s yours?”

“Yes, yes.” Jacques scratches under the cat’s chin. “A curiosity. An experiment in basic summoning. Looks like a cat but is actually a fiend. Yes, darling, you’re a nasty little fiend, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”

James joins him in petting it. “It h-has certainly acted like one.”

“No, darling, don’t be mean to James…” Jacques continues his cat baby-talk. “I sent you out to do reconnaissance, not to bother him. You’d best not be stealing his food or messing up his work, okay? Okay, darling, don’t fuck with him.”

“He’s not been too bad, he’s just – he’s actually quite comforting.”

“Good.” Jacques gives the cat to him to hold. “Keep him.”

“K-Keep him?” James squeaks. “Are you sure?”

His mage lover moves behind James and wraps arms low around his waist, pressing open-mouth kisses to the back of his neck and making James shiver. “Of course I’m sure,” he murmurs. “I’d give you anything you wanted, sweetheart, anything. I mean it. Just ask and I’ll give it to you on a silver platter, I’ll gift-wrap it or hand-feed it to you. When you’re with me there’s no need for you to lift a single finger, James, I’ll take care of everything.”

“Oh, J-Jacques…” James leans back into him and sighs. “You should become a poet…”

“Nonsense, I only have a way with words with you. But if you wished it, I would compose the most beautiful poetry for you. I’d kneel at your feet and I’d serenade you like a god, James. I’d worship you until my throat was sore, until I ached for you, until you were finally satisfied. I’d do this, darling, I’d do _anything_ to make you happy, anything…” He moves his mouth to the tip of James’ long ear and kisses it until his lips are on his earlobe. “Anything. Would you like me to prove it?”

“Yes, please.” James opens his arms and lets the cat jump down. It meows and slinks away, giving them a knowing look and allowing them some privacy for the rest of the evening.


	3. Suggestion

As always, James had meant to leave hours ago.

But still he sits, curled up in front of the fire in Jacques’ tower. He has a pile of books in his lap, browsing idly through them while Jacques struggles with a knitting project.

A crack of thunder makes him jump.

“Excellent, excellent, excellent!” Jacques stands and sets aside his work. “Just what I needed, I’ve been waiting for a good storm for weeks!” He pecks James on the cheek before donning his waxed cloak.

“Wh-where are you going?”

“Out. I need to trap lightning for a project. With luck, I’ll be back in just a few minutes. Sit tight and stay cozy, darling.” He darts out the front door of the tower, briefly letting in a wet gust of wind.

Worry gnaws at James’ stomach. He stands too and paces around the main living room, wringing his hands and glancing periodically out the windows. His lover is doing something in the front yard, setting up some sort of device while the nasty storm rolls on overhead.

Lightning strikes a nearby tree mere feet from the window. James jumps. He lets out an embarrassing yelp and nearly trips over a footstool in his haste to put distance between himself and the window.

A peal of thunder cracks seconds later, rumbling loud enough to shake the floor and make the windowpanes rattle.

James doesn’t realize he’s on the ground until the front door opens again and Jacques gasps his name.

“James, sweetheart, are you okay?” A hand touches his shoulder. Jacques leans into his blurry vision. “Okay, okay, okay? Please speak to me if you can.”

He tries but all he manages is a whimper and a shake of his head.

“Shit, shit! Darling, I want you to be okay and I don’t know what to do and – and to come in here and see you crying like this on the floor…” Jacques reaches over to his sewing station and grabs a handful of scrap fabric, using it to dab at James’ cheeks. “Oh, it terrified me, it scared me so badly.”

James tries to suck in a breath to apologize for frightening him, but he can’t breathe. He takes his lover’s offered hand and squeezes it.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong, what’s happened, are you – are you hurt? No, you’re not hurt.” Jacques tries to stand but winces at James’ tight grip on his hand. “Okay, I guess you want me here. May I – may I do a bit of magic on you? Just to help you breathe.”

He nods and let Jacques gently lift his chin. His darling takes a piece of wrapped honeycomb from his belt pouch, breaks off a chunk, and eats it.

 _“Breathe,”_ he commands while chewing. His voice cuts through James’ panic like a lighthouse beacon through fog.

Without consciously willing himself to do so, James takes a deep breath.

 _“Again.”_ He takes another. His mind starts to clear. Jacques continues guiding him through deep breathing exercises with the same firm suggestive voice. Finally James can breathe on his own, his panic eventually subsiding.

“Th-Thank you,” he manages once he can speak again. “I – I think I’m okay now.”

“Thank goodness…” Jacques dispels his magic and fiercely hugs him. “You worried me. What happened? Are you afraid of thunderstorms?”

“No, it – it’s just, the noise startled me and I often have fits of panic…”

“Of course, of course. No worries, darling, you’re okay now.” Jacques helps him stand and leads him to sit in the kitchen while he prepares tea. “Have you ever seen clerics about your panics?”

“I have,” James confirms. “They’ve never been able to do anything other than temporary fixes, I’m afraid.”

Jacques gives him a steaming cup of tea. “Well, perhaps I can think of something.”

A week later, James receives a small package in the mail. A sappy note is tucked into the outer packaging, which he unwraps to reveal a small beaded bracelet.

 _For your panics,_ Jacques had written. _Not perfect, but it will help if I’m not there._

James tries on the bracelet and rubs one of the beads. A warm comfortable feeling washes across him. It’s light, not heavy enough magic to become addictive or have any other undesirable side effects, but it’s enough to be felt.

How thoughtful…


	4. Private Sanctum

“I have a surprise for you.” Jacques is bouncing from foot to foot at the base of the abandoned Cape Tower lighthouse.

“Oh?” James pushes back the hood of his cloak.

He is fully expecting a gift. What he is not expecting is for his lover to jump backwards into the tower entrance and completely disappear.

“Dear?” James waits a moment. “Jacques?”

He reappears. “See?”

“No?”

“Exactly, exactly!” Jacques drags him into the tower. “It’s warded. Nobody can see inside and no sound can escape. It’s a new spell I’ve been working on.”

James smiles. He’s starting to get Jacques’ idea. “Oh, that’s quite impressive – mmph-”

His lover, buoyed by his magical success, drags James down to the floor while maintaining the deep kiss.

Zero to a hundred, that’s his lover. James lets himself be manhandled, giggling into his boyfriend’s mouth. Jacques lays him back against the pile of blankets they’ve been collecting here.

“We can be as loud as we want,” he purrs into the crook of James’ neck. Moving his way down to his collarbone and even lower, clothing removed along the way. “Loud, loud, loud. No need to be quiet, darling, you can scream for me if you want.”

“I – I’m not, I can’t be loud like that, I’m quiet, dear…” James drapes his arms around his lover’s neck and throws his head back against the blankets.

Jacques laughs and runs his hands in intimate places. “I could make you scream.”

“You couldn’t.”

“I could, I could! And I will, I will. Dearest, you’d better bet on it.”

“Fine, then, I’ll bet that you can’t.”

His lover manically giggles. “I’ll take that bet.”

James ends up losing.


End file.
